Is there any way to know a question has been deleted before answering it?

Nope, no way to tell.

Although be aware that for some time now there has been a glitch that gives you that message but if you check you'll usually see the question is still there and that your answer did post.

In response...sometimes yahoo has a glitch and says it's been deleted wherein if you click "back" and try again you "can" answer the question.

At other times when I think a question might be misunderstood i give a brief answer and then if yahoo accepts it i go back in and edit it with a longer answer.

Still other times IE8 interrupts my pc's which are IE7 and IE6 and says I'm blocked...so to solve that I click the return button until it finally lets me in.

To answer your question..no there is no way to know if a question has been deleted before answering it unless you are psychic.

Agree with Rev. This happens to me too, but I found that if you press the MAIN back button, not the one on the page that it tells you the question is deleted, takes you back to your answer, hit the "preview" button (even though you don't want to preview) then "submit", and your answer will be posted:)

yahoo q and a has been doing this to me for awhile i just go back then resubmit and the answer gets posted i think there is some kind of glitch in the system